UN Climate Change Conference – DLR-PT taking part in Glasgow discussions
2nd November 2021 — The 26th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC ("COP26") was originally scheduled for November 2020, but was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The negotiations are intended to adopt the last outstanding points in the rulebook for the implementation of the Paris Agreement (OVP). Firstly, this is meant to ensure that countries' contributions to the agreement are transparent and will be comparable in the future. Secondly, all countries are called upon to update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and submit improved climate protection plans. According to scientific analyses, it is impossible to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2 °C with the NDCs submitted so far. The climate policy negotiations are accompanied by a climate fair, which promotes the exchange of state and non-state actors on the implementation of the NDC.
DLR PT experts represented on site and digitally
Owing to the pandemic situation, the DLR-PT is represented on site by Christiane Textor from the German IPCC Coordination Unit, based at DLR-PT. Textor is advising the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with climate science and climate policy expertise in the negotiations. In addition to the German delegation, she is also supporting the European Union's core team in the negotiations on science. In addition, Christiane Textor is leading a negotiating group to provide information sources for the global stocktaking of progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Other experts from DLR-PT will participate virtually in the negotiations and the accompanying climate fair, as well as supporting the negotiations on behalf of the BMU and BMBF on topics related to climate science and the IPCC. The report of the IPCC Working Group I "Scientific Basis" (Volume I of the Sixth IPCC Assessment Report), adopted in August 2021, will serve as an important scientific reference point for COP26.
COP26 side events with German participation
In order to strengthen the dialogue between science and climate policy, the DLR-PT is also contributing to the organisation and public relations work of two side events on behalf of the BMBF. In the German Pavilion, participants will learn about the latest results of the BMBF's two funding priorities on climate economics and methods for removing CO2 from the atmosphere (CDR).
The German IPCC Coordination Unit at the DLR-PT
The German IPCC Coordination Unit was established in 1998 by the BMBF together with the BMU at the DLR-PT. For over 20 years, the Coordination Unit has supported the BMU and the BMBF and acted as a point of contact for government, science and the public on matters relating to the International Panel on Climate Change. Its staff promote the transfer of knowledge between climate research and climate policy; together with colleagues from Austria and Switzerland, they provide German translations of the most important IPCC publications. Specialist colleagues from DLR-PT in the field of Environment and Sustainability regularly review drafts of IPCC reports.